Composite Image Output Apparatus and Composite Image Delivery Apparatus

1. A composite image output apparatus comprising: a picked-up image acquiring unit which acquires a picked-up scene image containing a plurality of objects; a target image extracting unit which extracts a target image representing one arbitrary object from the picked-up scene image acquired by the picked-up image acquiring unit; a character image obtaining unit which obtains a character image having a pose corresponding to the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit; and an image outputting unit which outputs a composite image in which the obtained character image having the pose corresponding to the extracted target image is placed at a position determined based on a position of the extracted target image in the picked-up scene image acquired by the picked-up image acquiring unit so as to replace the extracted target image with the obtained character image having the corresponding pose; wherein the target image extracting unit comprises: a distance measuring unit which measures a distance to each of the objects; and a unit which extracts respective images of the objects based on the distances measured by the distance measuring unit; and wherein the image outputting unit superposes the character image and the extracted image of another object in decreasing order of the distances measured by the distance measuring unit.

2. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the character image obtaining unit comprises: character image storage means for storing a plurality of character images; similarity evaluating means for evaluating a similarity of the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit to the character images stored in the character image storage means; and means for obtaining from the character image storage means a character image similar to the target image based on the evaluation by the similarity evaluating means.

3. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the character image obtaining unit comprises: character image storage means for storing model images and a plurality of character images corresponding thereto; similarity evaluating means for evaluating a similarity of the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit to the model images stored in the character image storage means; and means for obtaining from the character image storage means a character image similar to the target image based on the evaluation by the similarity evaluating means.

4. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the character image obtaining unit comprises: character image storage means for storing a plurality of groups of character images; type specifying means for specifying a type of one of the groups of character images stored in the character image storage means; similarity evaluating means for evaluating a similarity of the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit to the character images of the group whose type is specified by the type specifying means; and means for obtaining from the character image storage means a character image similar to the target image based on the evaluation by the similarity evaluating means.

5. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image outputting unit forms the composite image such that the character image obtained by the character image obtaining unit is placed over the picked-up scene image extracted by the picked-up image acquiring unit at a position that is within boundaries of the picked-up scene image and that is different from a position of the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit.

6. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising movement specifying means for specifying movement, from a current position to an arbitrary different position, of the character image in the composite image outputted by the image outputting unit; wherein the image outputting unit comprises means for moving the character image to the different position in the composite image and outputting the composite image with the moved character image.

7. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image outputting unit places the character image obtaining unit at a position of the target image, which is extracted from picked-up scene images by the target image extracting unit, in a latest picked-up scene image among a series of plural picked-up scene images acquired by the picked-up image acquiring unit.

8. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image outputting unit comprises a unit which mirror-reverses the character image obtained by the character image obtaining unit and forms the composite image such that the mirror-reversed character image is placed over the target image in the picked-up scene image acquired by the picked-up image acquiring unit.

9. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the target image extracting unit further comprises: a target image specifier which specifies one of the extracted images of the objects as the target image.

10. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the target image is extracted from a first picked-up scene image acquired by the picked-up image acquiring unit, and in the composite image the character image is combined with a second picked-up scene image acquired by the picked-up image acquiring unit.

11. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the picked-up image acquiring unit comprises image capturing means for capturing a scene image.

12. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the picked-up image acquiring unit picks up the picked-up scene image based on a video image.

13. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the picked-up image acquiring unit picks up the picked-up scene image from a video player.

14. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the picked-up scene image comprises an animation image.

15. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the character image obtaining unit comprises: character image storage means for storing a plurality of model images and character images such that the model images correspond to the character images; type specifying means for specifying a type of character images stored in the character image storage means; similarity evaluating means for evaluating a similarity of the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit to the model images stored in the character image storage means; and means for obtaining from the character image storage means a character image of a type specified by the type specifying means and corresponding to a model image that is similar to the target image according to the evaluation by the similarity evaluating means.

16. The composite image output apparatus according to claim 15 , further comprising: model size adjusting means for adjusting a height and a width of the plurality of model images stored in the character image storage means to a height and a width of the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit; wherein the similarity evaluating means evaluates the similarity of the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit to the model images whose height and width have been adjusted by the model size adjusting means.

17. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program that is executable by a computer to cause the computer to function as units comprising: a picked-up image acquiring unit which acquires a picked-up scene image containing a plurality of objects; a target image extracting unit which extracts a target image representing one arbitrary object from the picked-up scene image acquired by the picked-up image acquiring unit; a character image obtaining unit which obtains a character image having a pose corresponding to the target image extracted by the target image extracting unit; and an image outputting unit which outputs a composite image in which the obtained character image having the pose corresponding to the extracted target image is placed at a position determined based on a position of the extracted target image in the picked-up scene image acquired by the picked-up image acquiring unit so as to replace the extracted target image with the obtained character image having the corresponding pose; wherein the target image extracting unit comprises: a distance measuring unit which measures a distance to each of the objects; and a unit which extracts respective images of the objects based on the distances measured by the distance measuring unit; and wherein the image outputting unit superposes the character image and the extracted image of another object in decreasing order of the distances measured by the distance measuring unit.